It is a bit frustrating at times. In the case of the swan picture, he thought it was too square and should have been more 'landscape' in format. If it had been, another judge would have complained at the wasted space at the sides of the photo distracting the viewer from the main subject.

In the case of the rat, he thought the photo had too much at the sides and should have been cropped in tight to the rat. I can understand what he was saying but since this was a wild animal, I felt that his/her natural environment should have been included. (The fellow presenting the photos and reading out the titles didn't help my cause by refusing to read out the Latin name, something done to show that it is a genuine wildlife shot and not something that is rigged by using someone's pet or taken in a zoo.) Also, the rat was eyeing the daisies in the bottom right of the pic as his next course. It did eventually come over to them but by this time was too close for my camera to focus and was actually becoming in danger of making contact with me. At this point I decided to move and make it aware of my presence and watch it scamper away to safety!

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

I think it's a good thing thought that you got a feedback... so it's not just here-are-your-points-now-go-home-there's-a-good-chap, but that they explain what they did and didn't like about the pictures

Wow. I agree it is good to get feedback instead of an unexplained mark...but the rat feedback does seem odd. I think to crop him in close would loose all his context! Ah well, I guess I'm no judge, but I love the photo Penfold!

No, it shouldn't be cropped more! One of the best parts about it are those little out of focus purple flowers in the corner and how the grass looks like it's kind of curling up around him on both sides.

“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees:

Like I said, I don't think the judge realized that the photo was of a wild rat in its natural habitat. Mind you, having the announcer not giving the Latin title might not have helped much since the judge seemed to ignore the titles given to most entries which meant he often missed the point of the photos (one was a trio of young children flamenco dancers with a group of other youngsters staring at them with disapproval. The title was 'Disapproval from the Wings' and it was this group of girls the judge wanted cropped out leaving only the dancers! ). Ignoring the titles and, because of this, missing the point of the photograph was the only real criticism I could have of the judge (he often said "I don't understand this photograph" when the clue was in the name). Unfortunately, this might have cost people a few points as well.

That aside, the feedback is often very useful and you can also learn a lot by looking at other peoples photos and taking on board the feedback on them.

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

Will you be entering the photo of the church ruin you came across, Penfold?

I'm also curious about how entering competitions changes your perspective. As you become more aware of the technicalities of photography, and the competitiveness of the competitions, do you still retain the sheer enjoyment of taking photographs? I thoroughly enjoy your photos and treasure the 'Batty's tree' photo you sent me.

Going to my school was an education in itself. Which is not to be confused with actually getting an education (Schultz)

Thanks Batty. I will probably go back to the church again in better weather conditions and take it from a slightly different angle for a better impact. It's a subject deserving of a lot more time and attention than I gave it due to the weather (I'm thinking of going in Spring when the bluebells are out for the most dramatic effect).

The club competitions aren't particularly competitive amongst members, although we all want to do well (obviously). The competitions do change perspectives in that I see a possible photo in things, whereas before I would overlook the opportunity or possibilities presented (photographing a classic car from an unusual angle, for example, or just focusing on a small section of the car as opposed to the whole thing). Looking at other peoples photos also provide sources of inspiration to try other stuff as well.

Regarding whether I still get the sheer enjoyment out of taking the photos, I can happily report that I get a real buzz from it, especially when I actually manage to achieve the photo that I wanted and other people can take pleasure from it.

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

I just got back from the club print competition and done a lot better than I expected.

"Catch of the Day" (19)The judge really liked this one and only reluctantly gave it a 19 instead of 20 due to there being several better monochrome images in the final group. Personally I thought it a little too dark and could have done with a bit more brightness, especially the small fish in the kid's hand.

"Moorhen" (18)I thought that the daisies being a touch overexposed would possibly be problematic. The judge did point this out as well as part of his constructive criticism but felt that it didn't matter too much when looking at the overall picture. Unlike the last judge, he liked the fact that I hadn't cropped in close to the bird but allowed it to be shown in its natural surroundings and habitat. He also said that the expression 'pin sharp' is often used when describing a pic but if anyone wanted to see an example of what "pin sharp" really means then they should just look at the feathers on this pic. High praise indeed!

"High Salvington Windmill" (17) This one definitely scored more than it deserved. As the judge correctly pointed out, the photo is way too cluttered with peripheral stuff such as the building to the side, the person sitting in the chair, the cropped trees between the mill's blades, and the cut off tree on the right. I should have moved position slightly and maybe cloned out some of the more obvious detritus.

This judge was very good and wasn't rude about anybodies photos when offering constructive criticisms. When he did point out something negative in a shot, he would always find something else nice to say about the photo's good points (in the case of the windmill, the use of sepia toning rather than just plain b&w). I'm a bit worried that the attitude and comments from some of the previous judges might have deterred some of our newer members as we only had five entries from the beginner's group this week.

Like I said, I was more than happy with my marks, especially since I wasn't going to use any of these in competition as I didn't think them good enough.

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

The boy with the fish is beautiful. I like the contrast between the sharpness of the bird & the greenery around it.Your windmill pics are a favourite of mine. I can understand about the trees maybe but I really like the person on the chair & the other building. Helps tell a story.

Thanks Susanne, maybe I am over critical of myself but I always think I could have done better (that is the case whenever I do something I care about or enjoy doing).

mC; we have a different judge each competition. If I was serious about getting higher marks, I could always Google the judge (we know who has been booked for which week) to find out their favourite subjects (most are professional photographers and are on Facebook or have a Wiki page). Some people actually do that but I can't be bothered with taking the comps that seriously. (To be fair, it doesn't seem to help that much either.)

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.